by Lucy Kevin
“No.” He couldn’t even stand the thought of it. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I had a feeling we’d be getting right to option two, which is that you need to stop moping around my dance studio and do whatever you need to do to get her back.” She walked over to the door and picked up her bag. “I’ll go pick us up some smoothies down the street to give you some time alone to think.”
With that, she walked out of the studio, leaving Christian to focus on his plan to not only get Paige back...but to persuade her to stay with him forever.
A vision of a romantic dance number from Shall We Dance started to quickly take shape in Christian’s imagination, complete with costumes, sets, and extras. He would need help from Paige’s sisters to get her to the right place at the right time and in costume. But since he knew they only wanted her to be happy—and he was almost certain that he did, in fact, make Paige happy—he hoped they would be happy to help out.
He could already see how it would go. Paige would walk in, and all the extras would be in their places. He would hold out his hand to her, and she would take it. They would dance together—another perfect dance—and at the end of it, he would tell her how much he loved her. And then, if he was really lucky, she would say she loved him, too, and together they would find a way to work things out.
“So, have you figured out a way to get her back yet?”
Christian looked up, surprised to see Lynn standing in front of him again. He had no idea how long she’d been gone. “I hope so.”
“Just to be on the safe side, why don’t you run all these great romantic plans of yours by me?”
Considering that he was probably going to need Lynn’s help to choreograph the dance, he was happy to tell her his plans. The more he went on, the more she stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Wow. With something on the scale you’re planning, I imagine she’s going to be so swept up that she’ll agree to just about anything you want.”
Swept up. They were the two words he really didn’t want to hear. That was what Paige had said right before she broke up with him. She’d said that when she was around him, she always got so swept up that she couldn’t think clearly about what was real.
“It isn’t going to work,” he said as his grand plan came crashing down around him.
“You’re kidding, right? Because it sure would work for every woman I know.”
“Paige isn’t like anyone else. She’s not interested in my fame or money or anything like that. So if I go in there with a big Hollywood song-and-dance routine, she’ll probably be even more convinced we don’t belong together.”
Lynn frowned. “So now what?”
“Somehow, someway, I need to find the right way to get through to her. A way to show her—”
“Show her what? That you aren’t a star anymore? Because that certainly isn’t going to happen any time soon. Especially not after this movie comes out.”
Christian stopped dead. That was it, wasn’t it? There was only one way he was going to be able to convince Paige that he was more serious about her than he was about anything else. He needed to walk away from it all.
He needed to stop being a celebrity.
“You’ve nailed it, Lynn,” Christian said. “I need to talk to my agent.”
She looked at him blankly for a moment before the penny dropped. “Have you gone mad? You aren’t seriously thinking about giving up your career for a woman, are you?”
“I will do whatever I need to do to be with Paige. And if that means walking away from the limelight, it isn’t even a choice.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She looked positively stunned. “Wait, you’re not also thinking about pulling out of Shall We Dance, are you? Because there’s a whole movie depending on you.”
“We both know that I’m no more than a serviceable dancer. There are plenty of actors who could take my place.”
“What about the gala?”
She had him there. When it came to the charity, there was no way he could just walk away.
“You’re right. I’ll do the dance tonight. But first thing tomorrow, I am calling my agent.”
“Just promise me that you won’t do it before then,” she insisted. “That will give me a little time, at least, to try to talk you out of it.”
If it meant he’d have a chance of getting Paige back, no one would be able to talk him out of it. Still, he had a feeling Lynn wouldn’t let go of it until he said, “I promise.”
“Good. Now get back out on the dance floor. Because while I suppose torpedoing your career for a woman is kind of romantic, that means tonight is your last performance, so you are going to give them a show so great they’ll think that you’re Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Nureyev rolled into one. I just hope Paige Walker is worth all this.”
Paige was more than worth it. Christian would have done this a hundred times over for her and—
“Hey, we don’t have any time for you to go back into dreamland!” Lynn said, all-business choreographer once again. “It’s time to dance, lover boy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The venue for the event was bigger than Paige had imagined it would be. A lot bigger. They’d taken the ballroom of one of LA’s biggest hotels, and though there were tables set around the walls, they’d left plenty of space in the center for the performance.
At one point she was supposed to have been dancing with Christian in the middle of the ballroom. But now, she couldn’t even get past the front door.
“I’m sorry.” The security guard at the door was wearing a tuxedo, but he still did a credible impression of a brick wall. “If you don’t have an invitation, you aren’t coming in.”
“But I need to see Christian Greer.”
“You and every other woman here. Just because you have a nice dress on, doesn’t mean I’m going to let you in.” She’d borrowed a shimmering gown from Morgan that had clearly been designed with premieres in mind, stowing it in her carry-on for the flight to LA and putting it on in the bathroom of the hotel. “I’m going to have to ask you to move away from the door now, ma’am.”
Paige could have tried to call Christian, but she needed to be able to see his face and look into his eyes when she told him she was sorry...and that she loved him. Loved him with all her heart.
For a moment, she considered telling the bodyguard that he was standing in the way of true love. But she could guess how that would go down. With loud, unstoppable laughter.
And then, likely, security guards escorting her out.
No, she definitely wasn’t going to get through the door to the ballroom without some serious help. What Paige needed right now was—
Lynn!
She spotted the choreographer, who was wearing an elegant floral-print dress and long gloves, as she moved toward another door farther down a hall marked Employees Only. Paige ran to catch up to her, thankful for her years of dancing in heels so that she could easily run in them, too.
“Lynn, wait!”
The choreographer turned around and arched an eyebrow. “What are you doing here, Paige?”
The force of her words took Paige aback. “I—”
“Walked away, abandoning Christian when he needed you,” Lynn finished for her. “And then he made the crazy decision that he needs to give up his career to get you back!”
Paige felt her jaw drop, actually fall open. Somehow, she managed to form the words, “He’s planning to do that? For me?”
“Right after the charity event tonight. Knowing him, he’ll probably announce it on live television. Which I’m sure is intended to be so incredibly romantic that you’ll agree to take him back, but you know as well as I do how much he loves acting. It would be a terrible mistake.”
Paige knew how excited Christian got whenever he was talking about the movie business. And she’d seen how natural he was when he’d been acting his way through their dances. Plus, he was amazing with his fans. He was meant to be a star.
And yet,
he was prepared to give all that up, just for her?
“We have to stop him,” Paige insisted.
“We?”
“I would never want Christian to give up everything he loves for me. I love him. All of him. Exactly the way he is. I made a mistake, a terrible mistake, when I walked away from him. Please, Lynn, will you help me?”
The choreographer paused, appearing to consider the request. Somewhere in the background, Paige could hear music starting up. Lynn seemed to hear it, too, because she winced.
She gave Paige a stern look. “Are you completely, one hundred percent serious about loving him?”
“I am.”
“And you’re not just going to freak out and change your mind again tomorrow?”
“No, I promise I won’t. I love him. Not just today, but forever.”
“And you already know how to dance with him, obviously.”
“You saw us yourself.”
“And you’d do absolutely anything to tell him everything you just told me?”
“Yes!”
“Then come with me.”
As Lynn led the way through the employees-only door, she muttered, “At least we don’t have to worry about your dress and makeup, since you came ready for the occasion.” The next thing Paige knew, Lynn was opening a door and pushing her through. “Good luck.”
Suddenly, Paige was under what seemed like a million spotlights. There were tables spread out around her, mirrors on the wall. Strangers occupied every one of those tables, their eyes on her with laser focus as she stood there, stunned. TV cameras were out in force, as well, to capture the celebrity-filled charity event.
Anywhere else, any other time, she would have frozen, then run back through the door she’d just come through. But tonight, Christian was right in front of her, looking more handsome and wonderful than ever, and instead of panicking, all she could feel was love. Pure, sweet love.
The look of sheer surprise on his face told Paige just how little he’d been expecting to see her. But as the music began, he lifted his hand and looked back at her with so much love that it was easy for Paige to forget everything but him.
She moved forward, taking his hand, letting him pull her close. She didn’t know the routine for the dance Lynn had choreographed for them, but as Christian moved her into the first steps, it didn’t matter. He led and she followed, the two of them moving effortlessly—and perfectly—together.
“I love you.” She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to tell him now. In the middle of the dance. In front of everyone.
“I love you, too.” He swung her around, then brought her close again. “But coming out here, dancing with me in front of so many people and all the cameras…I thought this wasn’t what you wanted. I thought you would never want to be with a man like me.”
She pressed her cheek to his as they moved as one on the dance floor. “Lynn said you were going to give up everything for me.”
“In a heartbeat, if that’s what it takes for us to be together.”
“No,” Paige said as they shifted through a series of rising and falling turns. She was breathless by the time he brought her up against his body again, close enough to tell him, “Don’t you dare give up your dream and everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve for me. You’re right that I never thought I could be with someone famous, but you’ve made me rethink everything, Christian. Love has made me rethink everything. Together, we’ll find a way to make it work for both of us.”
And it would work, Paige was certain of it. Because whatever it took to make that happen, they would find a way to do it. She’d been so scared that he would choose Hollywood over her that she hadn’t been willing to take a chance, and she’d been frightened of being in the spotlight, too. Yet now here she was dancing in front of a room full of complete strangers just to be close to him—and he had been willing to give up everything to be close to her.
Slowly, Paige became aware that he had taken her on her final spin. And when their dance was over, she stood by his side, her hand in his as they bowed, the applause breaking over them in waves.
Standing in front of an adoring audience was where Christian was meant to be, and she now realized that it was where she was meant to be, too. Right by his side, never letting him go.
“It looks like they’re impressed by your dancing,” Paige whispered to him. “I think this movie of yours might be a success after all.”
“Even though there’s only one Fred Astaire?”
Paige’s hand tightened on his slightly. “I’m pretty sure there’s only one Christian Greer, too.”
“Ladies and gentlemen!” the voice of the master of ceremonies boomed out through the speakers. “It’s nearly midnight, so if there’s someone you plan on spending the next year with, get ready to kiss them for luck in the year ahead.”
It felt perfect and oh-so-right when Christian pulled her close again. Even so, she knew she had to ask, “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything, or anyone, in my entire life. Are you sure that you aren’t just getting swept up by me again?”
“There’s no question that you are irresistible,” Paige said with a sweetly seductive smile meant only for him, “but I’m here because I love you. And even if I am getting a little swept up tonight by my amazing dance partner…well, there’s no one else I’d rather get swept up with.” She knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that he wasn’t going to leave her. And she was never going to leave him.
Regardless of wherever life led them, they’d go together.
The countdown quickly went from ten to one, and as soon as the words Happy New Year rang out, Christian kissed her. Around them, as people cheered or kissed partners of their own, Paige’s world came down to one man.
The man of her dreams.
Her mouth danced against Christian’s as eagerly as she’d danced with him. And when they both finally came up for air, the crowd was still celebrating, clinking glasses and toasting the New Year…with cameras recording it all.
“This is going to be all over the entertainment news, isn’t it?” she said. “I’ll probably have thousands of angry fans hunting me down for stealing away their heartthrob.”
“I’m sure they’ll think I’m one very lucky man,” Christian said. “And you know, if you want to avoid the media attention, we should probably make a run for it.”
“Do you have a secret hideaway in LA?”
“I was staying with my sister, but I was thinking that for tonight we could find a hotel room overlooking the beach.” Christian’s smile promised things that made Paige shiver in wonderful anticipation.
“I have to admit, I do like you in hotel rooms. Although I definitely want to meet your family, too.”
“Tomorrow,” Christian assured her. “We have plenty of time. In fact,” he said as he pulled her close again and spun her into another dance, “we have a whole lifetime.”
And as they danced together to the music that only they could hear, Paige knew she’d finally found the perfect partner she’d been waiting for her entire life.
EPILOGUE
The Walker family always got together on New Year’s Eve to watch the big mirror ball drop in Times Square on TV. This year, however, their father had an iron grip on the remote. As a big fan of Seattle General Medical, he told them all that he wanted to watch the leading man take part in a New Year’s Eve event in LA instead.
As she always did on New Year’s Eve, Emily had prepared a huge selection of appetizers that everyone could nibble on throughout the evening. This year, she had chosen the theme of New Year’s Around the World, with each appetizer representing a different country. Right now, it looked as if the Spanish tapas were going to be the first things to go, with the Japanese sushi a close second.
Everyone was still in a holiday mood, and they’d already played a rousing game of Pictionary. It was a big, warm, fun family evening, and Grams and Tres looked on with pride, as they did every year.
Knowing that many of them would be leaving Walker Island in the morning to get back to their homes and jobs, their father did some last-minute catching up. “So, what plans does everyone have for this coming year?”
“I’ve got my last term at school starting next week,” Hanna said, “and a couple of preliminary documentary ideas I want to finish putting together. Plus, Joel and I were talking about sailing down to Los Angeles at some point.”
“Nicholas and Charlotte and I have the surfing tour in New Zealand and Indonesia,” Rachel said. “We’ve also got some new curriculum materials for Charlotte, so we can keep up with her homeschooling. And we were talking about going climbing in Australia, too, if we can squeeze it in.”
“You all know what I’ll be doing this year,” Morgan said with a smile. “Getting married!” She looked lovingly over at Brian, who looked as if he was ready to say I do right there and then.
In the space of one short year, three of her younger sisters had fallen head over heels in love and were now leading the fulfilling lives she’d always hoped for them. If their mother were still alive, Emily knew she would be so thrilled to see them settled.
“Your father and I are so proud of all of you,” Grams said, “and we hope this next year is as wonderful as this year has been.”
“Hear, hear!” they all called out, clinking glasses.
“And what about you, Emily?” her father asked. “Got any big plans for next year?”
The whole family stopped what they were doing and looked at her, including Michael, who, as an honorary Walker, had joined them for the evening. But before she could reply, Charlotte called out, “Look, Aunt Paige is on TV!”
